great post.
But I think the only reason why anyone even says the bolded is because others always say "Kobe could never win without Shaq" or "Shaq carried Kobe", etc. You know you've seen things like that. It's just more of a counter argument against haters, imo, than an actual statement just in the blues.

Right. I'll never say Kobe could've won without Shaq or Shaq could've won without Kobe from 2000-2004. They both needed each other. I don't know if 2000-2002 Shaq could've won a championship if that version was playing for the Magic from 1992-1996, either. Not because he didn't have Kobe, but because the Bulls/Jordan and Hakeem/Rockets were that good at the time.

But Kobe stans want to discredit a young and still developing Shaq for not winning without Kobe in a time when Jordan was keeping plenty of other HOFers from winning a ring.